Frozen In Time
by Fanlover14
Summary: Set in 79 AD Italy, a young teenage royal will happen to stumble upon a common slave. What will happen between their bond, and will it stand the test of time. Slash. Guy/Guy. Don't Like, Don't Read.
1. The Market

**Another new story, I hope you enjoy!**

Time: 79 AD

Location: Italy

Prologue

Italy is expanding during a particular time where the economy is flourishing and trade comes in from ports all over the world. Trade has become a way of life for coastal towns as more and more people take the chance to move outward from the inland towards the coast. A young teenager is about to embark on the journey of his life in a particular town, which will be forever etched into the wall of history and time.

End of Prologue

Bentan Bascarro walked through the city street with a few of his house servants as he walked through the market. He looked up into the turquoise sky, filled with drifting clouds as he smiled and held onto the end of of his robe before he looked down the street towards a favorite shop of his. People moved about the street, some pulling wagons filled with food or other particular trading goods. Bentan looked over as a few young kids played tag and ran through the street in front of him.

"Look out! Do you not know the presence of whom you are in!" a nearby city guard said as one of the boys looked up into Bentan's face and shrunk away.

"Calm thy self guard, I'm not bothered by his youthful play at all." Bentan said as he looked at the guard who took a kneel before standing up and returning to his post. Bentan looked down at the kid before he knelled down to his level and smiled at him.

"Take this coin for the trouble he caused." Bentan said as he handed the boy a golden coin as the young boy looked at it in his hands before throwing his arms around Bentan.

"Now, now, run on to your friends before they forget you." Bentan said as he smiled and hugged the boy back before he stood up once more and watched the young boy run off before disappearing through the streets. Bentan continued on his way as he listened to the sounds of the city, people calling out for people to buy their goods, the sounds of kids laughing, the sound of women bartering for fair priced jewelry.

"Ah! Bascarro my friend!" came a familiar voice as Bentan walked into a shop before passing under a curtain of beads before seeing a older man standing walking through the store.

"Ah Nicoli Frongillo! Nice to see you again my friend!" Bentan said as the older man draped one arm around his back as his servants stood back at the door.

"What have you come to look at today my friend? I've gotten a few new necklaces from Rome, said to have graced the very hand of Aphrodite herself and bring love to whomever wears them." Nicoli said as Bentan watched the man walk back into the back before bringing out a box adorned with carvings of Greek Gods and Goddesses. He watched as the man carefully undid a latch on the box before opening it up and setting out a few necklaces encrusted with gems of all sizes and colors. Bentan smiled as he noticed one right off the bat as he reached forth and carefully picked up on of the necklaces.

"Ah, a fine choice my friend. A rare ruby, I've heard it can only be mined from the very side of Mt. Olympus." Nicoli said as he closed the box and watched Bentan dangle the necklace in front of him, watching as light sparkled off of the ruby embedded in the silver chain.

"I'll take it, but I also came here for a new broach for mother. Tomorrow is a special day and I want to commemorate it by gifting her with a beautiful broach." Bentan said as he set the necklace down onto the counter.

"Etan! We have a customer! Bring out thee broaches!" Nicoli said before Bentan saw a young looking teen venture from the back, wearing a slave's clothing as he handed a box to Nicoli and stood there awaiting his neck command. Bentan was drawn to the slaves beautiful brown eyes which turned to look at him as Bentan smiled at him.

"Bentan Bacarro, and you are?" Bentan asked as the slave looked bewildered over the fact someone of high importance was even speaking to him before he looked away.

"Etan Verduchi my lord." Etan said as Nicoli looked at his slave and waved him off with a grunt before opening the box and producing three golden broaches all in different animals shapes.

"Do not bother my help dear friend, it be hard enough to get him to work properly. Back to the back with you, go on!" Nicoli said as the slave flinched away as Nicoli raised his hand into the air before rushing to the back, out of sight.

"Must you always be so barbaric towards the slaves Nicoli?" Bentan asked with distaste in his voice as the owner rolled his eyes.

"I don't see where you went wrong boy, to be the governor's son and still have sympathy for the slaves is beyond me. You could have anything you so please, any man or woman or vessel out there and yet you spend your time aiding the poor and feeling sorry for the slaves." Nicoli said as he slid the broaches towards Bentan. Bentan looked down at the broaches, noticing one was a eagle, the other a horse, and the last being a snake.

"Mother always did love horses, I'll take that one." Bentan said as Nicoli gathered up his necklace and broach together.

"That'll be thirty gold coins my lord." Nicoli said before Bentan rolled his eyes and produced a small sack from under his robe.

"Bring out your slave." Bentan said as Nicoli looked at him in question before calling out Etan once more, the slave coming forth from the back as Bentan opened up the small little sack and produced forty gold coins. He pressed thirty of them onto the table for Nicoli before walking forth and reaching forth to take Etan's hand before the other flinched back. Bentan looked at him before gently reaching forth again and taking his hand and opening it up before placing the other ten gold coins into it.

"Get yourself something to eat my friend, and sleep at one of the inn's tonight if you can." Bentan said with a sympathetic smile before taking his items and walking out, not before looking back and smiling at Etan who was still standing there in bewildered shock before closing his fingers around the golden coins and looking at his hand.

**What do y'all think? Please review!**


	2. A New House Servant

**Hello my readers! I'd like to point out that TeamEthanMorgan made a very smart observation. In 79 AD it was Pompeii that was destroyed, not Rome. Rome was in Northern Italy, while Pompeii was centralized on the coast in Southern Italy. Mt. Vesuvius was the volcano that erupted and destroyed the city and it's people. Anyways, enough of the history facts. On with the story!**

Bentan made his way up the marble steps to his house as he dismissed his house servants with a wave before they bowed and returned to their daily duties.

"Ah, you've returned my son. How was the market today?" Bentan's mother, Angela Bascarro, asked as she walked in with her white tunic draping behind her.

"A lovely evening mother, I've picked up something for you while I was out." Bentan said as he produced a small silk pouch from his sleeve as he walked forth and presented it to her.

"Ah, why ever for?" she asked as she smiled and took the pouch from him before unraveling the golden thread wrapped around it before producing the golden horse broach.

"You've worked so diligently to provide for our family while father has been away and I figure it only proper to gift you for your never ending work and love." Bentan said before his mother placed her hands on his shoulder and smiled at him affectionately.

"My sweet and loyal son, what I would I do without you and your father in my life?" Angela asked before she brought her son close and gave him a tight hug before retracting and putting her new broach on with a smile.

"Are the preparations for father's welcoming party complete? He us to return from his council with the Emperor tonight is he not?" Bentan asked before walking over to a table and dipping his hand in a small golden bowl of water and flicking the drops onto a marble slab with the God's images carved into it as he thanked the house God's.

"Yes, it shall be a grand evening. Your father is to return by sundown, I shall need your help preparing the place for our esteemed guests tonight." Angela said as she walked over to a marble fountain and dipped a jug into it, collecting the water from inside before carrying it over and pouring it into the bowl as a offering to the God's before she bowed her head.

"Must we have slaves help mother? It's so degrading, think if you were in there place." Bentan said before his mother shot him a look.

"I will not tolerate that kind of talk in this house, you will bring bad luck upon our name son. Now, just go freshen up for tonight. I shall begin making preparations within the hour, I'll need you then." Angela said before Bentan nodded his head and walked off towards his room.

Moments Later

Bentan stepped out of his tub as his servant provided him with a towel as he dried himself off, giving a nod in thanks as his servant took a bow and left the room. He dried his hair before setting the towel aside and taking a fresh robe his mother had provided him with earlier. He held the red silky fabric up, adorned with golden thread as he smiled at the beautiful garment and put it on. Bentan smiled as he walked out into his bedroom and onto his marble balcony. He took in the view of the hills with the glorious mountain in the background as the ocean crashed off to the side. Bentan felt a sudden rumble as he noticed a few hanging ornaments begin to sway slightly as he looked around in wonder.

"Hades must be throwing a small fit down there." came his mother's voice as Bentan turned to see her standing at the doorway to his room, pulling on a small cord that separated the curtains that acted as a door to his room. He watched as she walked about his room, tracing her fingers across the marble pillars around his bed as drapes hung down around it for when he slept. She then walked over to a fountain in the middle of his room, a beautiful statue of Apollo standing in the middle holding a vase as if to be pouring water from it as a small stream trickled down into the fountain.

"Mother, what is wrong?" Bentan asked as he walked over to his mother's side and sat down by here as she looked at him with a small smile.

"I have just missed your father is all my sweet, trying to govern without him in a world where men look at woman's opinions as false or far fetched is tedious." Angela said as Bentan placed a hand onto his mother's shoulders.

"I know it's hard now mother, but all will be back to the way it was when father returns." Bentan said, smiling at her before she smiled back and stood up to look at him.

"I knew that would look great on you, I had one of the servants head to the market a few days ago and buy it." Angela said as she took in Bentan's robe on him as he stood up and turned around for her to see it, smiling as she clasped her hands together in glee.

"I've got just the amulet to go with it." Bentan said as he walked over to his bed and picked up his pouch from earlier as he took out the ruby necklace and handed it to his mother.

"It's exquisite, did Nicoli sell this to you?" Angela asked, smiling as Bentan turned around and let his mother put the amulet on, the light of a setting sun streaming in and reflecting off the blood red ruby.

"Indeed he did, and he has a new slave working for him that I met today." Bentan said before turning around, his mother admiring the gem adorning his neck.

Later That Night

Bentan walked about the estate as he mingled with guests and esteemed names of the city before he heard a joyous applause. Bentan turned around to see his father walking into the room with a troop of guards at his side as he raised his hand into the air to greet the people. Bentan rushed over to his father's side as he took a bow before him.

"Father, you've returned!" Bentan said excitedly as he looked back up at his father who smiled at him at him in return.

"How have you fared since my departure son?" Milo Bacarro asked as Bentan walked with him through the crowd of guests and party goers.

"I have fared well father, I have been helping mother govern the city in your absence." Bentan said as his father shook his head as he listened before holding up his hand.

"I'm sorry to cut this short my son, but I must meet with a few city officials about a urgent matter. We will speak more later." Milo said before walking off, leaving Bentan standing there feeling dejected before he got a glimpse of someone familiar, standing in the corner was the slave Etan holding onto a box of goods as Nicoli mingled with a few women already drunk. Bentan walked over as he stood by Etan and smiled at him, it took a minute before Ethan noticed him and who he was.

"Is there anything I can help you with my lord?" Etan asked as he looked up into Bentan's green eyes as the other stared at him inquisitively.

"How did you end up working for such a dirty man?" Bentan asked, making Etan look around quickly before looking back.

"You mustn't say such things, if he hears I can get the whip." Etan said worriedly before Bentan looked at Nicoli and then back to Etahn, the fear was evident.

"How much did he buy you for?" Bentan asked, looking over as Nicoli walked around with a drink in his hands as he stumbled over his own feet. Bentan crinkled his nose at the sigh of the disgusting man before looking at Etan.

"Fifty gold coins my lord." Etan asked before he watched Bentan walk over to Nicoli, he watched the two converse for a bit before Nicoli began to shout. Etan couldn't hear over the growing crowd as he stood on his tip toes to see. He watched as Bentan had a few guards come over who grabbed Nicoli and drug him out as Bentan handed one of them a small leather pouch before walking back over to him.

"Nicoli is no longer who you serve, my family is your new home now." Bentan said as Etan looked at him bewildered before he watched as the party went about it's buisness.

"How my lord!?" Etan asked a bit loudly, his mind swimming with both fear and relative shock as he pondered over Bentan's rash action.

"I paid him your selling price with a bit extra, he got furious and I had my house guards escort him out of the house. Nicoli should've known not to mess with the son of Milo Bascarro. I hated seeing the way he treated you, so I bought you away from him. Should I not have?" Bentan asked as he looked down at the shorter of the two.

"No my lord, I'm quite glad but won't he try to stir issues later on for this humiliation?" Etan asked, walking with Bentan as they walked outside onto a balcony with more guests sitting as they conversed and gossiped.

"I shall deal with that when the times comes, but for now just revel in the fact you no longer are property to a scoundrel of a man." Bentan asked as he looked up at the millions of stars and smiled before looking at Etan.

"Do you like horses?" Bentan asked, feeling a sense of adventure in him as he thought about his sudden actions a few minutes ago and reveled in being spontaneous. Etan just looked at him questioningly before he grabbed his arm and led him off in another direction.

**Sudden choice action, but please review!**


	3. A Furious Father

**A new chapter! Please enjoy!**

Bentan stood there in his room as his father paced back and forth in his room, holdhing his chin in his hand as his mother stood at the doorway. He knew his father was furious, but yet he stood his ground and held himself proud.

"You angered one of the market's most prominent jewel vendors, bought a slave that wasn't yours to buy, and then had him thrown out of our house?" Milo said as he stopped to look at his son with furious eyes as his son nodded his head.

"Why!?" Milo asked as he threw his hands up in the air at his son's hardheadedness.

"Nicoli is scum, and he treats all his workers like dirt. I could not idly stand by as that man was tormented under Nicoli's drunken wrath." Bentan said as his mother walked forth to step in as she put her hands on her husbands shoulders.

"Sweetheart, our son has good intentions. He takes after you, helping the downtrodden of this city in which you yourself govern. Does that not just shine a favorable light onto this family name?" Angela said as her husband stopped and thought for a bit.

"Yes, I suppose it does. Our son should have still gone through me first before making such a decision. Backlash will be small but swift, but there is nothing I can do now to redeem the damage. Bentan, I hope this servant was worth angering your own father over." Milo said before storming out of the room with his mother hot on his heels.

Bentan just huffed angrily before he turned around and walked out onto his balcony, the mountain in the distance as he looked up at it and the stars above it. He could see small wisps of smoke drifting from the mountain in the moonlight as he pondered over it before ignoring the thought. That's when he heard soft footsteps and turned around to see Etan at his doorway, pushing the curtains to his room back as he looked in.

"I am sorry to bother you my lord, but where will you have me rest for the night until you can find me a proper place in the servant's quarters?" Etan asked, clearly shy and soft spoken as he looked down at the floor as Bentan walked towards him.

"I had not thought of it, do you mind sharing a bed? Bentan asked, making the servant look up at him with wide eyes and a shocked face.

"My lord, I am but a humble slave. I would not dream of sleeping in the bed that your grace happens to slumber in every night." Etan said, clearly trouble at the thought as he looked up into Bentan's eyes as Bentan put a hand on his shoulder.

"You are not a slave, your a human being. Your my servant now, and you shall be paid just as all my other house servants are. Etan, you should not be treated badly here as you were with your former master. It is a gigantic bed, I shall take one side while you take the other. Tomorrow I shall make room in the servant's quarters for you." Bentan said as he grabbed Etan's hand and pulled him towards the bed before walking around to the other side and taking off his robe. Etan shielded his eyes as Bentan dropped the robe to the ground, only leaving on a small tunic that draped down to his knee's underneath.

"Are you always this rash and unpredictable my lord?" Etan asked, his face reddening as he took to the other side and sat down on the side of the bed.

"Yes I am actually, some say it's a better charm than being the same old predictable self everyday. I've only one life, why waste it?" Bentan said as he raised the silk covers up and climbed underneath them before turning to watch Etan slowly and reluctantly do the same as he faced his back towards him. Bentan frowned as he reached over and pulled on Etan's shoulder.

"Ya know, when I was a kid I would look up to the stars and wonder how many I could count before I'd begin to feel tired. I never made it past fifty stars, there was so many in the sky. It's like someone took a black cloth and cut thousands of tiny little holes into the sky and flashed the light of the sun inside it." Bentan said, noticing how Etan turned over to look at him as he told the story.

"My mother would always tell me each star was meant for somebody." Etan said with a fond smile before seeming to remember where he was and closing his eyes and facing the other way. Bentan gave up on trying to make him ease up as he huffed and turned over on his side, letting sleep come to him.

**I hope you guys enjoyed! Not sure how this chapter went, anyways, review!**


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